If Conor Oberst is the pinnacle of contemporary country-tinged folk, and slightly further down the scale of “Nought” to “Inspired” we find Ryan Adams, within the same genre but far closer to an imagination blackout lies Josh Rouse.
The Rykodisc years are, for the uninitiated, those before he ditched the label, moved to Spain, and absorbed the influences of his new surroundings too literally with Subtítulo’s 2006 release on Nettwerk. Here we get one 19- track best of CD and a second disc made up of his 2001 EP Bedroom Classics, plus seven previously unreleased tracks.
Rouse’s knack for a melody, showcased here in his most famous track, Streetlights, can’t be denied. His clunky lyrics and their overearnest delivery, however, mean that while the record makes decent background music, it doesn’t lend itself to scrutiny. Some of the worst drivel comes in Winter In The Hamptons, in which Rouse “gets political” and intones, “Sick of living here, we’re such a mess/’Cause the government, they’re all liars.” Always pleasant and never interesting, this is destined to be bought by people who don’t really like music. The middle of the road is a difficult – and dull – place to be.
